Still the Same
by S.T.A.R.S Chick
Summary: Three years after Spike's death, Jet and Faye meet again, only to realize the more things change, the more they stay the same. [song-fic]


Disclaimer - I don't own Cowboy Bebop

AN: First song-fic I've ever done. I heard this and I kinda thought it went with the characters. 

Title: Still the Same

Artist: Bob Segar

****

Still the Same

Space was lonely. Jet hadn't been the only person on the Bebop for… three years. Had it been that long? He guessed it really had. After Spike left, it was him and Faye. They didn't talk much. They both knew Spike wasn't coming back, which saddened both of them. They lifelessly slumped around the ship for weeks. Finally, Jet took the wheel and made a course out for Venus. He'd heard of a good bounty there. 

She didn't come with him to get the bounty. She didn't care, she said. Back then, she didn't care much about anything. All she cared about was the fact Spike was gone. He hadn't really gotten over it, but he had decided to stop moping around, because Spike wouldn't want that. 

It became a routine. He would go out, she would sit around. To get away from the memories of Spike, he would leave the Bebop. She would stay.

"Don't get up for me." Jet said, walking in the door, seeing her lazily watch TV. She was staring at it, without really watching it. 

"I won't."

Jet heaved a sigh. "Are you going to get up today?"

She looked at him. "Probably not."

That was their usual conversation. Until one day, she wasn't there. Her ship was gone and all there was left, was a note on the table.

__

Jet,

I can't take this anymore. I have to get out. Don't bother coming after me.

~Faye

Part of him was glad to get her annoying lazy ass out of here. But then he spend a few days in the deafening silence of the ship, and all he wanted was to hear the familiar buzz of the TV.

For three longs years he traveled the galaxy, without a cause or a purpose. Nothing seemed to have meaning anymore. Spike left, Faye left, Ed left, Ein left… Jet was alone. 

Having no where else to go, he ended up one night at a casino. The colorful signs boasting the "loosest slots you'll ever find", hung over the casino, as he walked in. It was a light, bubbly atmosphere. Men and women came and left freely, without a care in the world. Jet felt strangely out of place.

Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice.

"Blackjack. House wins."

Laughter erupted, and louder than all the rest, Jet heard, "One more! I swear I'll win this one!"

He couldn't forget that sultry voice. It was her. She looked exactly as she had three years ago. She smiled at the customers, the kind of smile telling everyone that she knew something they didn't. It was alluring and hypnotizing. She had everyone's attention, and they were obsessed with her. He watched her for a moment. 

"Good to know some things never change." he murmured.

__

You always won, every time you placed a bet 

You're still damn good, no one's gotten to you yet 

Every time they were sure they had you caught 

You were quicker than they thought 

You'd just turn your back and walk 

She didn't notice him for a long time. He had been standing there. She had called for another round and any new players. He sat down, and put his wager down. "I'm in." he said. She knew who it was without looking up, but she did anyway. 

"Jet." she said breathlessly. Holy hell, how did he find her here? 

"I'm waiting for my cards." he said. 

"I'm off in twenty minutes." she said. "We can talk then." she was staring at the adjacent wall. Jet knew she was staring at the security camera. Twenty minutes never passed by so slowly. 

"I'm sorry, fellas, but my time is done." Faye said, with a terribly fake pout. The men ate it up. She smiled seductively and walked away, as a tall blond took her place, introducing herself as Jenny, who the men seemed to instantly like. 

Faye led Jet to the break room. Jet was surprised to find it casual and not frilly, like the outside casino. She sat down on a plastic chair and nodded for him to do the same. He sat across from her. They sat in an uncomfortable silence. 

"You seem to be doing good." Jet commented, unable to stand the silence any longer. 

"Yeah, I make ends meet."

They both became silent again. "I thought I asked you not to find me." she finally whispered.

"This wasn't planned, Faye," Jet protested, that all familiar feeling of annoyance coming back to him. "I just stopped by the casino. I didn't know you were working here."

"Funny way of running into each other again." she said softly. 

"Yeah." Jet looked at her. "You haven't changed a bit."

Faye blinked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You still cheat."

"I do not." Faye said with a small smile. "Besides, you can't prove it."

Silence filled the room once more. "So," Faye said, wringing her hands together. "What have you been doing ever since… you know…" she couldn't quote bring herself to say it. She couldn't say Spike's death. Three years later, and she still couldn't say his name. It hurt to even think of it. 

"Oh, yeah…" Jet said, knowing what she was talking about. His eyes were filled with pain. "I've been um, well bounty hunting, but not so much. Just taking on odd jobs." He took a deep breath. "Just trying to make ends meet." he said, repeating what she said, without knowing it. 

"You still have the Bebop?"

"Yep."

"Ed and Ein ever come back?"

"Nope."

Faye nodded, ending her line of questioning, seeing no need to go further. 

"Why did you leave?" Jet asked, gathering up his courage. 

Faye didn't look at him. She stared at the wall. She couldn't meet his gaze. Jet stared, intent on getting his answer. 

"It reeked of him."

Jet stayed silent, her cue to continue. 

"Everything on that ship made me think of him. The couch, the TV, the windows, the walls, the floors," as she talked, tears formed at the corners of her eyes. 

__

You always said, the cards would never do you wrong 

The trick you said was never play the game too long 

A gambler's share, the only risk that you would take 

The only loss you could forsake 

The only bluff you couldn't fake

"He died, Jet," she said, finally willing herself to say those words. She said it with such conviction it was like she was trying to convince herself. "and I couldn't take it. I couldn't believe he was really gone. And everything on that fucking ship was a little piece of him that was left behind. Some memory he made." she laughed bitterly as she dried her eyes. "I promised myself I wouldn't cry over him anymore. And look, here I am, crying."

"It's all right to cry." Jet said softly, saying it to himself as well. She looked at him, while wiping the tears. 

"Did you cry?"

Jet was silent for a while. "For a while. Then I realized nothing good would come of it. He wouldn't have cried. He wasn't a crier. Never once saw him cry. Not even when Julia died. Didn't shed a tear." he said, recollecting the memory. 

Jet thought he saw a flash of jealousy come across Faye's features, but it passed as quickly as it had come, making Jet wonder if he had even seen it at all. 

"How do you do it?" it was Jet's turn to question Faye. "How do you go day to day?"

"In truth, I try not to think of him. I try not to remember. I block it out."

"Does that help?"

"No."

Faye played with her shirt. "Nothing helps anymore." she whispered. 

__

And you're still the same 

I caught up with you yesterday 

Moving game to game 

No one standing in your way 

Turning on the charm 

Long enough to get you by 

You're still the same 

You still aim high 

"I guess I should let you get back to work." Jet said. They had nothing left to say. They were two shells of the their former selves. There could be no comforting, nothing said that would bring them back to what they were. Who they were, back then.

"Yeah, I guess so." Faye said absentmindedly. 

Jet went to the door to open it for her, only to find Faye still sitting. "Faye-"

"Jet," she cut him off. "If Julia had lived… would he still have left?"

Jet swallowed, not wanting to say it out loud. He had wondered the same thing, but came up with the same answer every time. Never had he admitted it to himself, nor had he said it out loud. Faye looked at him with such innocence and raw pain, he was compelled to answer. 

"He loved her, Faye."

"That's not an answer." Faye whispered, sounding almost hurt.

"Yes. He would've left anyway." Jet murmured, barely audible. Faye heard him. She heard him as if he had shouted it. 

She had known it. She had asked herself over and over what he would've done. In her mind she knew he would've left, but somehow it hurt so much more to hear it. 

Jet held to door open, and Faye walked out. Jet closed the door, and with it, shut the door to their past. He was tired of thinking about it. It was done now. He had his closure. He felt like he could finally close the book. With a whispered good-bye, Faye went back to her Blackjack table with the same bubbly persona he had first witnessed when he saw her again. She wore the same façade, masking the pain. Yet, the only person who saw this was Jet. 

He smiled. He'd put the past to rest. 

__

There you stood, everybody watched you play 

I just turned and walked away 

I had nothing left to say 

He walked out of the casino and to the Bebop. He walked slowly, once onboard. He walked by Spike's favorite spot, the window he would constantly look out of. The Bebop took off, making the casino look smaller and smaller. Jet touched the window. 

"Goodbye Faye." he whispered. "I hope you find what you're looking for." he added. 

__

'Cause you're still the same 

You're still the same 

Moving game to game 

Some things never change 

You're still the same 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There we go. I hoped you liked it (and took the time to read the lyrics.) Anyway, thanks for reading.

S.T.A.R.S. Chick


End file.
